Stocks hit by foreign weakness

UAE shares had the largest loss among the region's equity markets yesterday, as they were pressured lower by the weakness on Wall Street and the sharp fall in crude prices. The Dubai Financial Market General Index declined 1.8 per cent to 1,513.49. Emaar Properties weighed heavily, sliding 3.1 per cent lower to Dh3.10, while Arabtec Holding, the country's largest listed contractor, sagged 3.5 per cent to Dh1.93.

The market moved on low volume, a notch under 70 million shares, with Arabtec and Emaar accounting for the bulk of the trading. The regional markets were responding to the negative global trends late last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index fell 3.2 per cent on Friday and crude futures tumbled 4.2 per cent after the euro fell to its lowest level against the dollar since March 2006. US crude for July delivery fell US$3.10 to settle at $71.51 a barrel. "Of course international catalysts are affecting us but even locally, there is no incentive for investors to re-engage in trade. In fact, they have more questions than answers at the moment," said Saud Masud, the head of research at UBS.

In the capital, property and finance stocks led the declines. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index fell 1.3 per cent to 2,537.92. Aabar Investment was one of the major losers, slipping 5.2 per cent to Dh1.62 after its board was unable to finalise a refinancing option. And Aldar Properties retreated 2.8 per cent to Dh3.08. First Gulf Bank dropped 3 per cent to Dh14.55. Elsewhere in the region, the Kuwait and Qatar indexes each gave up 4 per cent, while Muscat retreated 0.9 per cent. Bahrain's stock benchmark closed with marginal losses and the Saudi bourse edged down 0.05 per cent.